Memorials Day on Hawaii

It’s memorials day. I just arrived on Hawaii. Quickly deciding I board a bus taking me to Pearl Harbor. I figure that a visit at the historic monument of American vulnerability could be special given the particular date. And it turns out to be special – for a variety of reasons. First of all, Pearl Harbor incarnates another main symbol of commemorating America’s fallen. Second of all, coming from my rather euro-centric point of view, the story of the Second World War is usually told within the European scenery. 

                                                         Members of the Military at Pearl Harbor.

Throughout my travels, the omnipresent veteran’s cult in the U.S. makes me think. The cult appears in a multi-facetted manner. Repatriates receive honors under gun salutes during football games, while their fallen comrades just died to the exact same sound somewhere else in the world. In the parking lots outside the stadium, rows of car number plates proudly confess their owners active or former military duty. 

In Washington D.C., right nearby the Lincoln Memorial, countless busses cart elderly man to the War Memorials. Once lifted out of the vehicles, they make their cumbersome few-step journey to the memorial boards listing the names of the ones passed in the line of duty. On Hawaii, thousands of people conclude their commemoration of the fallen in a very special way: floating lanterns onto the Pacific Ocean. The American ways of honoring veterans are manifold. However, they also slightly smack of irony.  

Evidently, the American society tries to show their appreciation to the ones who commit their lives to military service. However, the all-existing honoring culture sometimes seems to mostly serve psychological purposes. Instead, to think American veterans are physically well off and universally cared about can be quite illusive. A quick glance at the facts supports this stance. 

While the numbers of veterans committing suicide per year differ, a widely quoted study by the Department of Veteran Affairs estimates their number around 8.000 deaths annually. According to a study by the RAND Institute, one fifth of the man and woman who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq operations experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Furthermore, the struggles of re-integrating into the civil body of society put individual economic perspectives under strain. 

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that out of America’s about 20 million Veterans roughly one half is employed. About half a million is unemployed. More than 10 million were neither employed nor seeking employment. According to the National Veterans Association, more than 60.000 Veterans were homeless in 2014. That is more than the number of American soldiers who died in Vietnam.

Slightly impressed by the numbers I arrive at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. A memorial sign introduces me to the current exhibition. It sets the context in which this part of the Second World War was fought.

“Conflict is brewing in Asia. The old world order is changing. Two new powers, the United States and Japan, are rising to take leading roles on the world stage. Both seek to further their own national interests. Both hope to avoid war. Both have embarked on courses of action that will collide at Pearl Harbor.”

A Hawaiian Newspaper reporting on the Pearl Harbor attacks.

Few might have heard of the frenetic warfare in the Pacific. However, most Europeans I know only mesmerize on the fatalities following the dropping of the Nuclear Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This put an abrupt end to the war. I am now, however, standing at the place, where the Second World War for the U.S. began. In the readings accompanying the memorial, Hawaii is depicted as the paradisiacal island where no one ever would imagine a war to begin. However, after the morning of December 7, 1941, President Roosevelt announced that Japanese planes had attacked Manila and Pearl Harbor. The following morning, U.S. Congress declared war on the Empire of Japan.  

75 years after, only a few veterans from this day are still around. Here at the historic sight they are edging the paths along the memorial area, signing autographs and smiling into cameras. I cannot help myself to fight the impression that the whole scenery appears very antiquated, almost like a pre-historic zoo, allowing people to touch the last surviving heroic subjects of a species. 

A few hours later, I’m standing on a beach surrounded by thousands of people holding lanterns ready to set them free on a journey into the Pacific Ocean. The traditional lantern floating at Ala Moana Beach sprouts from different cultural backgrounds and embodies large parts of Hawaiian diversity. Steadily, more and more lights fill the water and create a very reflective and peaceful atmosphere.

Traditional Lantern Floating at the Ala Moana Beach.

It’s time for me to end my first day on Hawaii. An Uber-driver takes me home. Connor, the driver, is in his early thirties. He served in Afghanistan. He came back in 2004. He lost friends in Afghanistan. Back in America, Connor struggled with his experiences. Basically, he lived the typical PTSD-life. An old family friend eventually brought him over to Hawaii, telling him the island would mend him. He indeed is doing better these days. Asked about his thoughts on the Memorials Day, he reacts with bare cynicism: Americans wouldn’t care, people just wanted to feel good, and that’s why they were honoring their veterans so much. 

Connor's words stuck with me on my way home. However, I also experienced other perspectives this day. From the Lantern Floating to the Old Veterans at Pearl Harbor, I have seen lot of heart-stricken mourning and caring. Last but not least, commemorating the death remains a deeply ideological act. However, and in benefit for the living, America might help their veterans more if the physical part of veteran’s support, like sufficient health care or occupational rehabilitation, would be as much taken on board as the patriotic or psychological approach.